Hello,
I would like to create a Christmas lighting show that is synced to music. I would like the show to start whenever a person opens the front door to my apartment. I have looked on a couple websites off of Google and nothing really explains the products to buy or the best program to use for the songs. I'm a beginner when it comes to this project so any help is appreciated!
The door part is the easy part, use a reed switch from an alarm system. The hard part of making a custom lighting control rig is doing it safely, especially since you mention having minimal experience. Mains voltage can kill you, and probably shouldn't be your intro to electronics project. However, if you are really invested in the idea, there are some decent options out there.
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php/topic,135501.0.html
Just make sure that anytime you are doing anything involving mains, that you aren't 1000% confident with, that you have a second person.